A month into his annual summer break from Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Jimmy Kimmel took a cue from Mitch McConnell, resurfacing on social media with a new “proof-of-life” pic of his own.
After the Kentucky senator’s office released a new image Monday showing McConnell alongside his wife, Elaine Chao, Kimmel posted an edited version in which his face had been superimposed over Chao’s. Her hair and body remained unchanged.
“For those asking, Mitch and I are feeling better, stronger, sexier and still technically alive every day!” Kimmel captioned the image.
It was the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host’s second response to a McConnell recovery photo in just over two weeks.
When McConnell’s office released its first image of the senator and Chao on July 12, Kimmel shared an apparently AI-generated recreation placing himself beside Chao instead of McConnell.
“For those who’ve been asking, I’m feeling great,” Kimmel captioned that post.
This time, Kimmel left McConnell in place and took over for Chao—or at least her face.
The latest photo was released July 27, with McConnell’s office saying it had been taken the previous day. It was accompanied by a statement from the senator saying he remains in rehabilitation and is undergoing “intense physical therapy” following a June 14 fall at his Washington, D.C., home.
The 84-year-old senator said he is working toward returning to the Senate but will not be able to attend Kentucky’s annual Fancy Farm Picnic this weekend, an event he has rarely missed during his more than four decades in politics.
The Office of the Attending Physician said congressional doctors are visiting McConnell daily and that he is completing multiple rehabilitation sessions each day. McConnell has not yet been medically cleared to leave the facility and return to his office.
McConnell has missed 38 Senate roll-call votes and has not participated in any media interviews since his hospitalization.
Kimmel, meanwhile, began his annual summer break from his ABC late-night show last month, with guest hosts filling in for him. He is expected to return after Labor Day.
